H-1529.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1882
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By Representatives Morris, Moyer, Ebersole, Appelwick, Leonard, Wood, Braddock, Brumsickle, Prentice, Heavey, Pruitt, Paris, Cooper, Roland, H. Myers, Belcher, Mielke, Hine, Bowman, Wineberry, Phillips, Orr, Cantwell, Spanel, Rust, Holland, Edmondson, Casada, Sprenkle, Franklin, Riley, Bray, R. Johnson, Rayburn, Ogden, Ludwig, Jacobsen, Nelson, Miller, Winsley, P. Johnson, D. Sommers, Sheldon, Brekke, Rasmussen, Mitchell and Anderson.
Read first time February 13, 1991. Referred to Committee on Health Care\Appropriations.
AN ACT Relating to family violence; amending RCW 18.19.020 and 18.19.030; adding a new section to chapter 18.19 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; creating new sections; making appropriations; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature declares that incidents of family violence have reached epidemic proportions and must not be tolerated; that exposure to family violence at an early age appears to be a significant risk factor for subsequent violent behavior against the community at large; and that escalating health care, criminal justice, and human services costs of family violence compel it to explore new models of prevention and intervention.
The legislature further declares that family violence ruptures the basic unit upon which our culture is based, mocks our sense of individual dignity and justice, and denies our children the nurturing environment necessary for their physical, emotional, and intellectual development.
The legislature recognizes that alcohol and drug abuse are both contributing factors to, and important by-products of, family violence. Alcohol and drug abuse increases the likelihood and severity of violence in the perpetrator, increases the distress, vulnerability, and dysfunction of adult victims, and impairs the development of children exposed to violence.
The legislature acknowledges that criminal justice agencies, charged with the capture, adjudication, and postconviction management of offenders have little if any control over societal patterns and relationships that spawn family violence. Therefore, exclusive reliance on a criminal justice response to family violence cannot effectively prevent its occurrence or safeguard the community. Other successful approaches to prevention, intervention, and treatment, including those used by the health care and public health professions, must be explored.
The purpose of this act is to strengthen existing support systems that provide safety, security, advocacy, and health care to victims of family violence; to inventory the breadth of programs available to those experiencing family violence; and to investigate new long range models of prevention and early intervention that coordinate efforts by the criminal justice, health care, mental health, and social services delivery systems.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. As used in section 3 of this act, "family violence" means a typology of abuses against persons, including spouse or partner abuse, child abuse, child sexual abuse or incest, sibling abuse, and elder abuse in the form of physical violence, sexual violence, emotional or psychological violence, and environmental violence. Family violence includes but is not limited to child abuse or neglect, as defined in RCW 26.44.020, sexual offenses, as provided in chapter 9A.44 RCW, and domestic violence, as defined in RCW 10.99.020.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The secretary of health shall develop public health surveillance systems for tracing morbidity associated with family violence, methodologies for precisely identifying groups at risk for family violence, research methods for exploring potentially modifiable risk factors for family violence, and a system for rigorously evaluating existing programs that are intended to prevent family violence or modify a suspected risk factor.
(2) The secretary of social and health services shall establish, through a competitive selection process, three new pilot programs in communities geographically balanced throughout the state that will assure a sustained commitment towards containing family violence. The goal of the pilot programs shall be to test a variety of prevention and early intervention strategies to successfully interrupt the escalating cycle of family violence in Washington communities.
(a) The department of social and health services and the department of health shall jointly develop criteria for the selection of pilot programs;
(b) Each pilot program shall provide for coordination between local law enforcement agencies and courts, local governments, domestic violence and sexual assault victims' support programs, regional support networks, public health agencies, health care providers, schools, other community organizations, and relevant programs within state agencies. Each pilot program shall designate a lead agency and develop written interagency agreements to provide a coordinated continuum of services. Pilot programs shall make every effort to preserve existing family violence intervention programs and coordinate available funding for services related to family violence prevention and services to victims of family violence;
(c) The pilot program shall provide at least the following services: Services to family members who are victims of violence; services to victims of violent crime; case management services; and specialized intervention programs for treatment of perpetrators of violence, such as anger management, parenting and caregiver training to families experiencing or at-risk of experiencing violence, and public education regarding community violence;
(d) A majority of the families served by each pilot program must have some involvement with drug or alcohol abuse; and
(e) Twenty-five percent of funding for the pilot program shall be provided in-kind or in cash by public or private entities in the community served by the program.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 18.19 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The department shall issue a certified family violence counselor certificate to any applicant meeting the following requirements:
(a) Successful completion of an educational program approved by the secretary or successful completion of alternative training that meets the criteria of the secretary;
(b) Successful completion of any experience requirement established by the secretary;
(c) Successful completion of any examination administered or approved by the secretary; and
(d) Any other requirements established by the secretary that are necessarily relevant to the competence of family violence counselors.
(2) Applicants shall be subject to the grounds for denial or issuance of a certificate in chapter 18.130 RCW.
(3) Certified family violence practice is that aspect of counseling that involves the evaluation, treatment, case management, and reporting of individuals impacted by family violence, including the perpetrators of violence or abuse and family members who are victims of such violence or abuse.
(4) The department shall develop and implement certification procedures, in consultation with the advisory committee established pursuant to RCW 18.19.070, by July 1, 1992.
(5) The department is authorized to establish requirements for specialty practice for counselors engaged in different aspects of family violence counseling, including but not limited to domestic violence, in consultation with the advisory committee established pursuant to RCW 18.19.070.
Sec. 5. RCW 18.19.020 and 1987 c 512 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Certified family violence counselor" means a person certified to practice family violence counseling pursuant to section 4 of this act.
(2) "Certified marriage and family therapist" means a person certified to practice marriage and family therapy pursuant to of RCW 18.19.130.
(((2)))
(3) "Certified mental health counselor" means a person
certified to practice mental health counseling pursuant to RCW 18.19.120.
(((3)))
(4) "Certified social worker" means a person certified to
practice social work pursuant to RCW 18.19.110.
(((4)))
(5) "Client" means an individual who receives or participates
in counseling or group counseling.
(((5)))
(6) "Counseling" means employing any therapeutic techniques,
including but not limited to social work, mental health counseling, marriage
and family therapy, and hypnotherapy, for a fee that offer, assist or attempt
to assist an individual or individuals in the amelioration or adjustment of
mental, emotional, or behavioral problems, and includes therapeutic techniques
to achieve sensitivity and awareness of self and others and the development of
human potential. For the purposes of this chapter, nothing may be construed to
imply that the practice of hypnotherapy is necessarily limited to counseling.
(((6)))
(7) "Counselor" means an individual, practitioner, therapist,
or analyst who engages in the practice of counseling to the public for a fee,
including for the purposes of this chapter, hypnotherapists.
(((7)))
(8) "Department" means the department of ((licensing)) health.
(((8)
"Director" means the director of the department or the director's
designee)) (9) "Secretary" means the secretary of health or
the secretary's designee.
Sec. 6. RCW 18.19.030 and 1987 c 512 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
No
person may, for a fee or as a part of his or her position as an employee of a
state agency, practice counseling without being registered to practice by the
department ((of licensing)) under this chapter unless exempt under RCW
18.19.040. No person may represent himself or herself as a certified social
worker, certified mental health counselor, ((or)) certified marriage and
family therapist, or certified family violence counselor without being
so certified by the department ((of licensing)) under this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The office of financial management shall inventory, catalogue, and assess all state-operated, state-funded, or privately operated programs serving violent families, including a description of how each program is administered, the types of services provided and the type and number of persons served through the program during calendar years 1989 and 1990. This information shall be provided in a report to the following committees of the legislature on or before October 1, 1991: The senate law and justice committee, the senate children and family services committee, the senate committee on health and long-term care, the house of representatives judiciary committee, the house of representatives human services committee, and the house of representatives health care committee. Upon receipt of the report, the chairpersons and appropriate members of such committees shall jointly develop legislative recommendations regarding the implementation of a coordinated, effective family violence prevention and intervention strategy for Washington state.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) One million five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the department of social and health services from the drug enforcement and education account for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, for three new pilot programs established pursuant to section 3 of this act. Grants to each pilot program shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars per year.
(2) One million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the department of social and health services from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, for continuation of the pilot program established in King county pursuant to section 206(i), chapter 16, Laws of 1990 1st ex. sess.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 2 and 3 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 2, 3, and 7 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 4 through 6 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1992.